By 
September 14th, 2022
The Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) has been closely monitoring the Long March 7A (CZ-7A) rocket launched on September 13, 2022 from the Wenchang Space Launch Center, Hainan Island.
PhilSA was able to verify the estimated drop zones of rocket debris from the Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China.
In a PhilSA posting, two drop zones within Philippine territory have been identified based on the NOTAM: Drop zone 1 is approximately 71 kilometers from Burgos, Ilocos Norte, while drop zone 2 is approximately 52 kilometers away from Sta. Ana, Cagayan.
PhilSA submitted this information as well as other actionable details in a report issued to all relevant government agencies before the launch.
Credit: China Central Television (CCTV)/China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC)/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Falling debris threat
“While debris from CZ-7A is unlikely to fall on land features or inhabited areas in the Philippine territory,” PhilSA said, “falling debris still poses a considerable threat to ships, aircraft, fishing boats, and other vessels that will pass through the drop zones.”
Last July, the core stage debris of the Long March 5B rocket landed on Philippine waters in an uncontrolled reentry.
“In the case of Long March 7A, the possibility of a similar uncontrolled reentry of the rocket’s upper stages cannot be ruled out at this time,” the PhilSA statement added.
“PhilSA wishes to reiterate its earlier advice to the public to immediately inform local authorities if suspected floating debris is sighted at sea. PhilSA also cautions everyone against retrieving or coming in close contact with these materials,” the statement concludes.
The Long March-7A booster launched the ZhongXing-1E satellite from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site, a telecommunications satellite designed to “provide users with high-quality voice, data, radio, and television transmission services.”
Quite disruptive
While the Long March 7A uses kerosene and liquid oxygen in its first two stages. “that said, dropping rocket stages into another country’s 200 nautical-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), while likely not illegal, could be quite disruptive…as the Philippines have pointed out,” said Michael Byers, co-director, of the Outer Space Institute at the University of British Columbia in Canada told Inside Outer Space.
Byers was lead author of a recent study published in Nature Astronomy that looked at three decades of data to approximate the chance of human casualties from uncontrolled rocket reentries.
To view a video of the launch, go to:
Posted in Space News
